America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 517: Idol of the New York Gang

Roosevelt's office at the police station was not large and looked very cluttered.

There are various case files stacked on the desk. Not only that, there are also many on the chairs and on the floor.

And Roosevelt himself is in these files.

"The business is very busy." Chen Jianqiu stepped into the office door.

He had to watch his steps, otherwise he would accidentally leave a footprint on the case file on the ground.

Roosevelt raised his head, saw it was Chen Jianqiu, and hurriedly packed up a chair and came out.

Then, he moved out his chair and sat down face to face with Chen Jianqiu.

"The public security in New York is in a mess now. Robberies, thefts, drunkenness, and murders happen every day."

As Roosevelt spoke, he found that he was still holding a case file in his hand, and threw the case file back on the table.

Chen Jianqiu originally wanted to say that the lower part of Manhattan, New York, has always been such a mess.

He had already obtained a detailed city portrait of New York from Holiday.

That damn place in Lower City is like a prototype of "Gotham City", with gangs and "talented people" everywhere.

"Your predecessor had it much easier than you. His philosophy was to manage the public security in the upper city and let the civilians in the lower city fend for themselves." Chen Jianqiu said as he put his head on the back of his chair.

Similarly, Chen Jianqiu may be more familiar with the former Sheriff than Roosevelt.

For the Border Detective Agency to gain a foothold in New York, Holliday worked hard on the former police chief.

However, after Roosevelt took office, Chen Jianqiu, who knew him well, made Holiday change the way he did things.

"He can do this, but I can't." Roosevelt stared at Chen Jianqiu and said firmly, "In my eyes, the job of the police is to maintain order in the city. This has nothing to do with the region, whether it is a wealthy area or a slum. , should all be within my jurisdiction."

"What, do you need outsourcing services? Then just contact Holiday directly." Chen Jianqiu said to Roosevelt with a smile, "But as far as I know, they are still better at detecting cases than maintaining law and order."

After all, the way the Border Detective Agency handles things is not very suitable for maintaining law and order.

This has something to do with Holiday, the leader of the New York branch.

When he was in the West, his tactics were always dark.

Together with Chen Jianqiu, this man succeeded in turning a small western town sheriff into a wanted gangster.

"Last week, I lost a police sergeant." Roosevelt's voice suddenly deepened. "He died in his own home. He was electrocuted while taking a shower."

"The wire of the electric light was broken, and the exposed end fell into the bathtub." He said, "No trace was left at the scene, and the murderer has not been caught until now."

Chen Jianqiu touched his chin.

This technique is very much in line with the essence of the people in my Border Detective Agency, who pay attention to adapting measures to local conditions.

"Did he offend anyone?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"I sent him to seal down the bar in downtown because it violated the rule that no alcohol can be sold on Sundays." Roosevelt took a deep breath. "He is a person with strong execution ability. Although his police rank is not high, he is very He’s doing a great job being responsible.”

"I was the one who harmed him." He sighed and looked at Chen Jianqiu, "If it were you, there probably wouldn't be a single living person in the gang over there."

"But you are not me." Chen Jianqiu understood very well, "Didn't you conduct an investigation?"

"The investigation report was very sloppy and said it was an accidental death, but this is hard to accept." Roosevelt pulled out a few thin pieces of paper from the case file on the table and handed it to Chen Jianqiu's hand.

After Chen Jianqiu hastily scanned the report, his eyes stopped on the name of the person who issued the report: Mitchell Walker

"Have you checked this person?" Chen Jianqiu asked, pointing to the name. "This kind of report is obviously perfunctory and cannot be explained at all."

"That's what I want to say." Roosevelt bowed, "He may not be the only one in the police station who has connections with the gangs. As far as I know, they have been collecting money from the gangs."

"I could have found a reason to replace them all, and then replace a group of people. But this would cause too much noise, and I can't find anyone who is trustworthy and capable for the time being."

"So, I want you to check it out for me."

Chen Jianqiu said nothing.

He actually wanted to tell Roosevelt that almost every policeman under his command collected dirty money.

This is the unwritten rule of the police force in New York and the entire United States, from east to west, from south to north.

It’s like this in New York, it’s like this in San Francisco, it’s like this in Boston, it’s like this in Philadelphia.

"I cannot sit back and watch corruption destroy the foundation of this city, nor can I watch the largest city in the United States become notorious because of these people." Roosevelt said sadly.

His fists clenched.

"So, I hope to start with this case and at least do something for the city."

If someone else had said these words, Chen Jianqiu would still be a little disapproving.

He has seen too many people who speak righteously on the surface, but behind the scenes are all kinds of hesitant, or who start out ambitious, but eventually succumb to reality.

But Theodore Roosevelt was not that kind of person.

Without this ambition and extraordinary will, his portrait would not have been worthy of being engraved on Mount Rushmore along with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.

"Okay, leave it to me."

Chen Jianqiu stood up.

He took the investigative report with him.

After exiting the police station gate, Chen Jianqiu walked directly towards No. 34 Bell Street.

This address is now famous throughout New York.

The Frontier Detective Agency is located here.

It has completely replaced the down-and-out Pinkerton Detective Agency and has become a law enforcement force that cannot be ignored in the city.

They will take action on many cases that the police cannot solve.

However, compared with the police, they are less particular about procedural justice in the way they treat suspects.

The police station is not far from the detective agency.

Chen Jianqiu quickly reached his destination after passing through two blocks.

The snow at the door has been swept away, and the two stone lions are still majestic.

After Chen Jianqiu looked up at the sign, he stepped into the door.

The guard on duty at the door put on a thick winter uniform and was in a daze.

When he saw Chen Jianqiu wearing a coat, he was stunned for a moment.

Chen Jianqiu would come over on weekdays, but usually someone would notify him, but no one told him that the boss would show up today!

"What? I'm not welcome?" Chen Jianqiu took off his hat and glanced at him.

The doorman picked up the phone receiver hanging on the wall behind him as quickly as possible.

"Boss, the boss is here!"

Before the doorman finished the call, Chen Jianqiu had already walked up the stairs and arrived at the door of Holiday's office.

To his surprise, Holiday's office was as messy as Roosevelt's.

There were also piles of tables and chairs, and the floor was covered with them, leaving no place to stand.

I don't know when Holiday put on his glasses and was marking on the case file with a pen. When he saw Chen Jianqiu coming, he immediately put down the pen and stood up.

Chen Jianqiu walked around the pile of files on the ground and came to Holiday's desk.

"Have you taken on more cases these days?" He glanced down at the case files.

"Yes, mostly kidnappings." Holiday said, "We just rescued the son of a German businessman last week and took down a small gangster at the same time." Chen Jianqiu nodded.

"Can you still aim accurately with glasses on?" He glanced at Holiday's glasses and joked.

Holiday took off his pince-nez and put it in his breast pocket: "It's OK. Now I don't have to do it myself most of the time."

"Even if we really have to pick up a gun, it won't be a big problem." He pointed his finger at his heart. "You know, at our level, shooting doesn't rely on the eyes anymore, it relies on this part."

Chen Jianqiu did not refute Holiday's idealistic remarks, but handed the case file to him.

"I just came from Sheriff Roosevelt. Do you know about this case?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

Holiday put on his glasses again.

"We only know about this, but we don't know the details, but the police station definitely can't find out by themselves." The "doctor" shook his head slightly, "The police station has long been rotten. This report is either perfunctory or it was instructed to deliberately cover up."

"Yeah, I think so too." Chen Jianqiu took the report back, "So, Roosevelt wants to entrust us to handle this case."

"Their police station still has the funds to take on cases now." Holiday laughed suddenly.

"Hmm?" Chen Jianqiu was a little confused.

"According to our intelligence, the New York City government is about to go bankrupt." Holiday motioned to his boss to follow him.

He took Chen Jianqiu down the stairs to the basement.

The basement corridor was brightly lit.

The two men walked up to a steel door that looked quite thick.

Holiday took a key from his coat pocket, inserted it into the keyhole on the door, and turned it several times; then he took another key from his trouser pocket and inserted it into another keyhole.

The door was opened.

The two walked in.

"The detective agency's confidential intelligence room." Holiday touched the wall light and turned it on.

This is a large room with rows of cabinets more than two meters high compactly arranged inside.

There is a label on each cabinet with letters of unknown meaning written on them.

"Many of New York City's unspeakable secrets are hidden here." Holiday and Chen Jianqiu walked through the rows of cabinets together, "including but not limited to internal government documents, property records of congressmen, and membership lists of many unofficial organizations."

Chen Jianqiu looked up and down at the cabinets.

"Do you always carry your keys with you?" he asked suddenly.

"No, one is with me and the other is with the clerk. I just got it this morning," Holiday replied.

He walked to a cabinet marked "Fn", counted the number of layers in his mind, then opened a drawer on the second layer of the third column, took out a document from it and handed it to Chen Jianqiu.

With the help of the incandescent lamp, Chen Jianqiu began to read the document.

This is a copy of an internal New York City government budget report with "Confidential" written in big letters at the bottom.

It can be seen from the report that New York City's financial situation has long been in deficit, and the debt level has naturally climbed to an outrageous level.

Behind the report is a copy of the loan document from the city government to Morgan Bank.

The city government borrowed more than $200 million, otherwise it would not be able to repay its municipal bonds.

If the money is not borrowed, the New York City government will be on the verge of bankruptcy, all municipal services will be halted, the police will not receive their salaries, and the city will become completely chaotic.

"Is it because of the financial crisis?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

“I’m afraid it’s more than that.” Holiday glanced at the other drawers. “Since Tammany Hall’s resurgence, only the New York City government can tell where its money has gone.”

"Well, go ahead and compile a copy of the Tammany Hall documents and send it to my place." Chen Jianqiu returned the documents to Holiday. "Let's discuss the Roosevelt case first."

Two people walked out of the confidential information room.

Holiday turned around and locked the door again.

Chen Jianqiu took out his gold pocket watch and checked the time. It was almost noon.

"Do you have any plans for lunch?" Chen Jianqiu turned his head and asked Holiday who was locking the door.

"Not yet. Everyone is very busy and usually not at the headquarters. Those who stay at the headquarters usually eat some bread, cheese or sandwiches, and then go home in the evening to eat something good with their family." Holiday straightened up.

"Let's go, let's go to a restaurant outside and eat something and talk while we eat."

New York is still busy after the snow.

The carriages hurried past, and the bells jingled, making a "ding-ling-ling" sound, reminding passers-by to get out of the way.

The snow on the road had been cleared simply, but it was so simple that the melted snow mixed with the dirt on the road, making the road muddy.

Passersby had to be very careful, otherwise they would be splashed with mud by the passing carriages.

Chen Jianqiu and Holiday crossed the street and finally found a restaurant called "Papa Donny" at the corner of the street.

Two people walked in, each ordered a steak and a glass of wine.

"Who is behind those bars that were investigated?" Chen Jianqiu asked as he cut a steak. "I mean, under whose sphere of influence are they?"

"Five o'clock gang."

Holiday replied.

"It's an Italian gang, but it's a very mixed group of people, including Italians, Irish, Jews and Eastern Europeans, and it's mainly active in Lower Manhattan, Harlem and Brooklyn."

Holiday told all the information about the gang as if he knew it by heart.

He already knew these things by heart.

"The founder was an Italian-American named Paul Vaccarelli, but he died in the fight. The current leader is John Torrio, a very ambitious and capable guy. Under his leadership, the Five Points Gang has become the largest gang in downtown New York."

"But this guy is a little crazy, and..." Holiday suddenly stopped talking.

"And what?" Chen Jianqiu stuffed a piece of steak into his mouth.

"This person has told others that his idol is you. He heard about your experiences in New Mexico from somewhere and decided to emulate you and become an underground legend in New York!"

When Chen Jianqiu heard this, he almost choked on the beef in his mouth.

He quickly took a sip of red wine.

"Nonsense, when did I ever form a gang? What underground legend, who is spreading it?" Chen Jianqiu picked up the napkin and wiped his mouth.

"Maybe it's the part with Scott. I don't know about the rest." Holiday glanced at Chen Jianqiu.

Yes, you have never seen a gang, but you have done everything you should do. It is right that the new immigrant gang leader regards you as an idol.

"Let's start with the police officer named Mitchell Walker and this John Torrio."

Chen Jianqiu stood up and made a decision.

Mitchell Walker is not a rookie police officer, on the contrary, he can be said to be a veteran.

He served in the New York Police Department before Roosevelt became the police commissioner.

At first, he was just a patrol policeman in charge of the lower city area, commonly known as a "local policeman", but because of his long tenure and rich experience, the investigation of many cases was also assigned to him.

Like other police officers in New York Police Department, a large part of Walker's income comes from "tributes" from his subordinates, so he naturally has an unclear relationship with the gangs in his jurisdiction.

Although Roosevelt did not say anything in the report, he understood that this thing would definitely not fool Roosevelt.

But he also has his own difficulties.

After careful consideration, Walker decided to have a talk with John Torrio.

(End of this chapter)